Jim Leavitt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jim Leavitt | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Title | Head coach | |
| College | South Florida | |
| Sport | Football | |
| Team record | 70-44 | |
| Born | December 5, 1956 | |
| Place of birth |  Harlingen, TX |
|
| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 70-44 | |
| Coaching stats | ||
| College Football DataWarehouse | ||
| Playing career | ||
| 1974-1978 | Missouri | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1995-present | South Florida | |
Jim Leavitt (b. December 5, 1956 in Harlingen, Texas) is the current head coach of the University of South Florida Bulls college football team, and its only head coach to date, having been with the program since its inception.
Contents |
[edit] Coaching career
[edit] Early years
Leavitt grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida, and was a star quarterback for Dixie Hollins High School. After graduating from high school, Leavitt pursued studies at the University of Missouri–Columbia, graduating in 1978. From 1978 to 1980, Leavitt worked as a graduate assistant. He then left for the University of Dubuque, where he spent two years as their football team's defensive coordinator. Following his years there, he went to Morningside College in 1982, spending one year as special teams coordinator before being promoted to defensive coordinator. After a brief stint at the University of Iowa where Leavitt pursued a doctorate degree in psychology, he continued to Kansas State University in 1990. At Kansas State, Leavitt spent two years as linebackers coach then four more as defensive coordinator, leading Kansas State from relative obscurity to having a consistent, highly regarded defense. Finally, on December 12, 1995, Leavitt was hired to as the head coach for the new South Florida football team. He has been, to date, the only head coach for the South Florida Bulls.
[edit] South Florida Bulls
After signing his first class in 1996 (all redshirted) for the first varsity season in 1997, Leavitt has guided the team through the Football Championship Subdivision ranks into the Football Bowl Subdivision, into Conference USA and finally into the Big East Conference. In December of 2005 the team played its 100th game and first bowl game in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Meineke Car Care Bowl. One year later, Leavitt led the team to its first ever bowl win in the PapaJohns.com Bowl against East Carolina University in Birmingham, Alabama on December 23, 2006.
In his 11 years at the University of South Florida, Leavitt has been heavily courted by the University of Alabama (who in 2003 sought him so rabidly that they sent him an offer and a contract to sign)[1] and Kansas State University[2]. On both occasions, he chose to stay with the program he'd created in Tampa, Florida. The success of the 2006 season spawned yet another round of interest in Leavitt's services, as his name was mentioned in national publications as a candidate to replace Larry Coker at the University of Miami and Mike Shula again at the University of Alabama[3]. True to form, Leavitt expressed his desire and intent to stay with the program he established at USF and removed himself from consideration for those positions.
Leavitt's on-field success, drive and dedication to the university have produced significant improvements in athletic facilities, such as a new athletic training center that includes an Academic Enrichment Center for student athletes, new administration facilities, and new practice fields for the football team.
On September 16, 2007, Leavitt's Bulls team cracked the Top 25 (AP 23, USA Today 24) for the first time in the program's 11 year history.On September 28th, 2007, Leavitt's USF Bulls stunned the 5th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers at Raymond James Stadium, which is perhaps the biggest win thus far for the USF football program. South Florida's ascension from 1-A startup to the Top 25 is the fastest in NCAA history, surpassing Boise State's by a mere 7 weeks[4]. Yet another record was achieved when, on September 30, 2007, the Bulls became the fastest program of the modern era to reach the Top 10, landing at #6 in the AP poll and #9 in the coaches poll.
On October 14, 2007, USF received its first ever BCS ranking as the #2 team in the nation behind only Ohio State University. That week the team was also ranked #2 in the AP poll and #3 in both the Coaches and Harris polls. That ranking would last only one week, as the Bulls lost to Rutgers 30-27 on October 18 in Piscataway, New Jersey.
On March 11, 2008, Leavitt signed a two-year extension to his original seven-year, $7 million contract that he signed in 2006. The new contract pays Leavitt $12.6 million from the 2008–2014 seasons, with the annual starting salary of $1.5 million increasing by $100,000 each contract year.[1]
[edit] Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Florida Bulls (I-AA Independent) (1997 – 2000) | |||||||||
| 1997 | USF | 5–6 | N/A | N/A | |||||
| 1998 | USF | 8–3 | N/A | N/A | |||||
| 1999 | USF | 7–4 | N/A | N/A | |||||
| 2000 | USF | 7–4 | N/A | N/A | |||||
| South Florida Bulls (I-A Independent) (2001 – 2002) | |||||||||
| 2001 | USF | 8–3 | N/A | N/A | |||||
| 2002 | USF | 9–2 | N/A | N/A | |||||
| South Florida Bulls (Conference USA) (2003 – 2004) | |||||||||
| 2003 | USF | 7–4 | 5–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| 2004 | USF | 4–7 | 3–5 | T–6th | |||||
| South Florida Bulls (Big East) (2005 – present) | |||||||||
| 2005 | USF | 6–6 | 4–3 | T–3rd | L Meineke Car Care | ||||
| 2006 | USF | 9–4 | 4–3 | T–4th | W Papajohns.com | ||||
| 2007 | USF | 9–4 | 4–3 | T–3rd | L Sun | ||||
| South Florida: | 79–47 | 20–17 | |||||||
| Total: | 79–47 | ||||||||
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Program started |
University of South Florida Head Football Coach 1996– |
Succeeded by Current |
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